Gausman, Pustay are All-Stars in California Collegiate League

Got a note from Grandview pitcher Kevin Gausman’s dad, Clair: “It’s been an adjustment early on to face college hitters and travel has been tough at times. He has really settled in and his last three-to-four outings have been exceptional.”

Indeed, in his last start July 17, Gausman went 6 1/3 innings with five strikeouts and a walk in Team Vegas’ 4-1 loss in the California Collegiate League. He allowed three runs, but only two were earned.

Gausman’s fastball has topped out at 100 miles an hour on multiple occasions, according to Clair.

He also made an appearance in the CCL All-Star Game, where he struck out the side in the second inning and threw 15 of 16 pitches for strikes.

In 35 innings, he’s now 2-4 with a 6.43 ERA and 26 strikeouts against 16 walks. In his last three appearances (two starts), he’s pitched 12 innings, and given up five earned runs (3.75 ERA) while striking out nine against five walks.

Pine Creek’s John Pustay, a 37th round pick by the Rangers who also has a scholarship offer to San Diego State, is hitting .286 with two home runs and 12 RBIs for Team Vegas. He’s also stolen nine bases on 10 attempts.

Check out this nugget, too: In that July 17th loss, Pustay singled in the third inning … then stole second … and third … and home. It was Vegas’ only run of the day.

Pustay also made an appearance in the All-Star game. He played center field in the sixth, and then right field the rest of the way. He also grounded out to first base in his only at-bat in the eighth.

I love hearing about Kevin Gausman like he’s the only kid in Colorado to play the game. I thought there were only two baseball players in Colorado …. that would be Gausman and Gonzales. You know Colorado Connie Mack just had a state Tournament that was a hell of a lot more competitive than the High School tournament. Just sayin… Oh BTW there is a Regional tournament in Fort Worth this week and Mark Johnson has taken a team that will represent Colorado, sorry I didn’t mean to scoop you… It’s just that the coverage of high school baseball in colorado has been one sided and very sketchy at best…

Neil Devlin, originally from the Philadelphia area, has covered high school sports in Colorado for more than 30 years, writing about the people, athletes and events that encompass the Rocky Mountain prep sports world.